Butler Strong: High School Reopens Just 4 Days After Deadly Shooting

MATTHEWS, NC — Students returned to Butler High School for the first time Thursday, since the deadly shooting.

Police say Monday 16-year-old Jatwan Cuffie shot and killed fellow classmate McKeithen in a packed hallway before the first bell. Court documents reveal that Cuffie told Matthews Police it all stemmed from a disagreement over who won a fight. Cuffie remains locked up and is charged with first-degree murder.

Matthews Police say the first day back did go smoothly. They had officers patrolling Butler High School. Alumni and parents came to show their support and were holding signs of encouragement.

“We are Butler and Butler strong is something the alumni and students feel very strongly about and once a Bulldog, always a bulldog,” says Butler High School Alumna Carly Blaney.

CMS Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox says the first day back went smoothly, and the school principal is meeting with every student in the school, “To talk about the fact that we have come together as a community, the fact that if you see something, say something, but we have to be supportive of one another.”

Later on Thursday, dozens gathered for a vigil at Camp Greene Park for a vigil for McKeithen. Family, friends and even strangers held hands and prayed.

“He just turned 16 too. Life just beginning, now it’s ended,” says McKeithen’s uncle Roy Lee Newborn.